Thursday, July 30, 2015

DESCRIPTIVE TEXT NARRATIVE FOR SMOKE/DUST OBSERVED IN SATELLITE IMAGERY
THROUGH 0230Z July 31, 2015

SMOKE:
Alaska/Yukon:
The wildfires in central Alaska are producing light to moderate density
smoke heading southeastward through western Yukon. The most dense smoke
is covering a majority of central Alaska and heading eastwards into Yukon.

Northern Canada:
A small area of remnant light density smoke is seen through eastern
Northwest Territories and western Nunavut heading southeastward. This
area of smoke most likely originates from the Alaskan wildfires

California:
The wildfires from Central California are producing lots of light to
moderate density smoke covering most of central and northern California
heading northward into Oregon. The heaviest density smoke is associated
with the northern portions of the larger area of smoke. There is also
smaller patches of moderately dense smoke near the fires in the far
southern California.

Dust:
Southern US:
A large plume of dust likely originating from the Saharan Desert is seen
over most of the western Gulf and moving through a majority of Texas
and into portions of Oklahoma.

Kemal/Heeps


From Earlier
SMOKE:
Alaska/Yukon Territory:
Mostly thin smoke from wildfires in central Alaska is seen beneath the
patchy clouds and is moving east towards the Yukon Territory. A small
area of embedded moderately dense smoke is also seen along the border
of Alaska and the Yukon Territory.

Western Canada/North Central US:
Several areas of light density smoke coming from the Siberian
and/or Alaskan fires are seen across portions of western and northern
Canada. Some smoke may have also been produced by a handful of wildfires
burning north of Great Slave Lake. Smoke extends southeast from Northwest
Territories across parts of British Columbia/Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba
and southwest Ontario before extending further south/southeast into the
north central US. Smoke covers parts of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Iowa,
Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana as well
as Lake Huron and southeast Ontario.

California/Oregon/Idaho/Southwest Canada:
The wildfires in the Sierra Nevada and in northwest California are
producing expansive smoke plumes that are moving to the west/northwest
off the Sierras and then to the north. There are fairly large areas
of moderately dense smoke with most of these fires. The smoke extends
north across much of west and south central Oregon. Another area of
smoke likely attributable to the California wildfires is seen moving
northeast across north Idaho into southwest Canada.

East Canada/Northeast and Southeast US:
An extensive amount of aerosol is seen across much of Quebec extending
south/southeast ahead of a potent upper low and frontal boundary. This
aerosol is present along/ahead of the frontal boundary southward over the
entire Eastern Seaboard to the Southeast US states and coast. The most
optically thick area of the aerosol is seen over the Northeast US and
being pulled off the coast. Possible small areas of remnant Siberian smoke
are present within this aerosol over Massachusetts/New Hampshire and south
of Newfoundland. Otherwise the aerosol is thought to mostly be sulfates.

DUST:
Central US:
Saharan dust remains across the far western portion of the Gulf of Mexico
and extends north across a majority of Texas, southeast New Mexico,
and into Oklahoma.

Sheffler

THIS TEXT PRODUCT IS PRIMARILY INTENDED TO DESCRIBE SIGNIFICANT AREAS
OF SMOKE ASSOCIATED WITH ACTIVE FIRES AND SMOKE WHICH HAS BECOME
DETACHED FROM THE FIRES AND DRIFTED SOME DISTANCE AWAY FROM THE SOURCE
FIRE..TYPICALLY OVER THE COURSE OF ONE OR MORE DAYS. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST
ARE ALSO DESCRIBED. USERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO VIEW A GRAPHIC DEPICTION OF
THESE AND OTHER PLUMES WHICH ARE LESS EXTENSIVE AND STILL ATTACHED TO
THE SOURCE FIRE IN VARIOUS GRAPHIC FORMATS ON OUR WEB SITE:

JPEG:   http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/land/hms.html
GIS:    http://www.firedetect.noaa.gov/viewer.htm
KML:    http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/kml.html
ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THIS PRODUCT SHOULD BE SENT TO
SSDFireTeam@noaa.gov

 


Unless otherwise indicated:
  • Areas of smoke are analyzed using GOES-EAST and GOES-WEST Visible satellite imagery.
  • Only a general description of areas of smoke or significant smoke plumes will be analyzed.
  • A quantitative assessment of the density/amount of particulate or the vertical distribution is not included.
  • Widespread cloudiness may prevent the detection of smoke even from significant fires.